The loss-making airline's chairman, Michael Joseph, confirmed they had indeed resolved to go ahead with plans to acquire a new fleet of 10 Boeing 737- 800 Max jets despite safety concerns raised following the fatal crash of Ethiopian Airlines' flight 302 on Sunday, March 10.

“The only option we have planned for is the Boeing 737-800 Max. This will make it easier for us to conduct training and maintenance of the aircraft,” Joseph said as quoted by Business Daily (BD) on Monday, March 25.

The former Safaricom CEO added they were hoping Boeing will fix the software problem that was blamed for the Ethiopian flight 302 and Indonesia's Lion Air flight 610 crashes and which led to global grounding of the iconic aircraft model.

However, the decision by KQ to proceed with the Boeing 737 Max 8 jets deal estimated to be worth KSh 120 billion sparked angry reactions from Kenyans who took to social media to express their rage.

But even as KQ set in motion plan to buy the currently grounded Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft, its counterpart in Indonesia, Garuda Indonesia, which had also entered into a similar contract with Boeing went on the opposition direction.

The Indonesian flag carrier had a few days earlier publicly announced it had revoked its order for 49 Boeing 737 Max 8 jets, making it the first airline to cancel a contract with Boeing.

Garuda Indonesia clarified it took off the table the KSh 600 billion (US$ 6 billion) deal after its passengers started losing trust in the Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft.

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